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This invention relates to the field of belt restraint systems widely used in securing vehicle occupants therein but more specifically to the procurement of greater safety for open vehicle type users.
A number of relevant restraint devices have been patented. U.S. Pat. No.3,371,942 discloses an automobile seat belt incorporating a combination of lap belt and upper torso restraint while U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,413 discloses a more complex harness restraint system for a high performance vehicle, including an aircraft, which distributes inertia forces across a plurality of harnesses around the occupant of the vehicle. Both designs are however inapplicable to vehicles requiring astride seating and having seats lacking in a back-rest portion, as most open vehicles contemplated here do (for example, motorcycles). U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,166 discloses an auxiliary retention belt and support cushion for securing the motorcycle rider to the motorcycle operator. It provides no safety restraint however for the latter (who secures his safety by his firm grip on the motorcycle)and is geared exclusively at the passenger. U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,398 discloses a shoulder and lap belt safety device attached to a form fitted seat for two wheeled vehicles. According to its spirit and letter, it is inoperable without its special xe2x80x9cback-restxe2x80x9d seat format. It is further, and thus, not amenable to installation in most existing two wheel type or other open vehicles with conventional seats (astride seating with no xe2x80x9cback-restxe2x80x9d portion). It also limits the two-wheel vehicle occupant to one.
The Rider Restraint System (RRS) is a revolutionary restraint system intended to prevent open vehicle operators AND passengers from being thrown off their vehicles in the event of a sudden stop or head-on collision. Understanding that a majority of open vehicle accidents involve a frontal impact, it is believed that the RRS, acting in conjunction with other existing devices like the safety helmet, will serve to save countless lives in America and around the world, by minimizing the fatal head and body injuries sustained by multitudes when accidentally catapulted from their open vehicles.
By means of retractable belts with matching buckle ends that extend from compartments with closure and covering means, said compartments being mainly situated before and behind both operator and passenger seats, such persons are secured to the open vehicle. Freedom of movement is facilitated as the belts are equipped with spring-loaded inertia reels/locks (widely used today in automobile seat belts) or other similar devices, that deny further belt extension in the event of a sudden deceleration as in a sudden stop or head-on collision.
While desirable for affixation in all new open vehicle production, this invention lends itself to installation in older open vehicles such as motorcycles. By replacing existing conventional seats on a motorcycle with slightly shorter ones (lengthwise), the few inches needed to position the belt compartments is immediately created. This invention is thus a ready xe2x80x9cupgradexe2x80x9d to the safety status of virtually any open vehicle. It is also, unlike its predecessors, less complex and inexpensive, requiring no special vehicle or seat format to operate in, and is installable in as many seats as the open vehicle may have.